Love and Obsession
Chapter 6
-September 23-
It's been almost two weeks since the car incident and police were no closer to solving the crime. Stephanie had offered to drive Josh to and from school until he got another car, to which he agreed. Things were rather peaceful lately with no threats or disturbing visits from Karla, allowing the couple to happily devote their free time to Sadie.
They were at Burger King, sitting in the play area and eating their lunch. Sadie cooed and laughed as she ran clumsily on her feet, playing with the other children. She fell a few times, but it didn't seem to bother her. She got back up and continued playing.
The toddler was beginning to talk now. It delighted her parents to hear her say 'ma' and 'da' for 'Mom' and 'Dad', as well the words 'bye-bye', 'hi', 'ball', 'yum-yum', and 'dog'. Their little girl was growing up too fast! By now, they found themselves having to be careful what they said around her. One day, Josh had let a 'shit!' accidentally slip from his lips and Sadie repeated it, much to Stephanie's dismay, and the couple agreed to stop swearing when she was present.
They watched as she climbed up the padded steps and crawled through the tubes, following some older children up to the slide. Stephanie's heart skipped a beat, worried that her daughter would be hurt, but Sadie showed fearlessness as she slid down the slide, laughing as she made it to the bottom.
"Ma! Da!" Sadie called excitedly, as if she was saying 'I did it!'
"We saw you, baby. Was that fun?" Stephanie asked as she adjusted her daughter's socks which were falling off.
"Ya!" The sixteen-month-old replied and took off for the ball pit.
"She's growing up so fast." Stephanie commented, taking a sip of her Coke.
"Yes, she is. I can't believe she's talking already. Before we know it, she'll be ready for potty training." He agreed.
"Yeah, and her first day of preschool. Where has the time gone?"
Meanwhile, Joey and Elise were in the middle of a date. They walked out of Bayview Theater, smiling and holding hands as they discussed what they wanted to do next.
"What about the zoo?" He suggested.
"That's a great idea. I haven't been there since Matthew was two." They made their way to Joey's car and drove the thirty minutes to the San Francisco Zoo. Joey purchased their tickets and they followed the paths to the animals they wanted to see. They came to the first group of animals and stopped at the ostrich cage where they were busy pecking away at the food a zoo keeper had just given them.
Next, they visited the giraffes, zebras, and gorillas. Elise laughed as one of the gorillas tried to put on a show. They reminded her of Joey so much, always funny and outgoing. She took a disposable camera from her shirt pocket and snapped a few photos, then she asked another guest to take one of her and Joey together.
"Cheese!" The couple said as the woman took the picture and gave the camera back. They continued through the whole zoo, snapping more photos and stopping at the cafés for pizza, soda, and ice cream, then they visited the animals they missed before going back to the car.
Joey smiled politely as he opened the front passenger door and Elise smiled back as she got in and buckled her seat belt. He fumbled with the keys a bit before he found the correct one and put it in the ignition.
"I had a really great time going out with you, Elise."
"I had a blast being with you too, Joey. We should do this again soon."
"Yes, definitely. Maybe we can bring Matthew here the next time we come back." Elise chuckled and nodded in agreement. They drove back to the Tanner house and Matthew ran toward them as they came in the back door.
"Mom!" The six-year-old called energetically. "Guess what me, Nicky, and Alex did!"
"What did you boys do?"
"Mr. Jesse helped us build model trucks."
"That is awesome, honey. Show me." Matthew ran into the living room with his mother and Joey not far behind and showed them three model trucks he had built, one blue, one white, and one red. The blue one had flashing police lights and the word 'Police' written on the sides, the red one had a ladder and hose on the top, and the white one had a red cross on the sides and back.
"These look amazing, Matthew." Joey praised as he picked up the police car.
"Thanks, Joey." Matthew played with Joey and his mother until Elise announced that they had to go home.
"Come on, Matt. Get your jacket." Elise told him.
"But Mom, do we have to? Can I please sleep over?" He begged.
"If it's alright with Mr. Tanner, you can stay."
"Okay." Matthew ran upstairs where Danny was busy putting clean laundry in Michelle's dresser and tidying the room. Danny heard the footsteps and turned around to see what the child wanted.
"Hey Matthew, need me for something?"
"Mr. Tanner, is it okay if I sleep over tonight?"
"Sure. No problem, and you don't have to call me Mr. Tanner. Just call me Danny."
"Thanks Danny."
"You're welcome."
Matthew skipped back downstairs, glad that he was allowed to stay. He liked spending time with the twins and they enjoyed his company as well. It was fun having another boy in the house for them to hang out with and the three of them were inseparable.
That night, Nicky, Alex, and Matthew unrolled their sleeping bags on the twins' bedroom floor and laid down as Rebecca read them a bedtime story until they fell asleep. Then she kissed the boys goodnight and turned out the lights. Leah lay asleep in the middle of her parents' bed instead of her own bed so Jesse moved her and rejoined his wife.
"Goodnight Beck."
"Night Jess." They kissed each other on the lips and turned out the lights.
Karla walked along a dark road with very few street lights. She wore a skimpy black skirt and a glittery black tube top, giving the appearance that she was going to a night club. She turned down an alley where she met up with Ted, who was smoking a cigarette and drinking heavily.
"Karla, did you see the boy?" Ted inquired, taking another drag out of his cigarette.
"Yes."
"Well, how is he?"
"Fine."
"Good. I have something else I need you to do." Ted grinned evilly as he revealed his plan. "Find out where he goes to school, then when you see him, watch him and then when the time is right, I want you to snatch him. Do whatever you need to do to accomplish this, but bring him back to me. Deal?"
Karla left the alley and walked the streets some more, thinking about how to carry out this insidious plan.
More soon! I have no idea what to write in the next chapter, so suggestions would be much appreciated.